Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Great Acting by Zinta!? You have to be kidding. Terrible movie,terrible acting all around. What do you expect when you get actors who have never worked in film? For instance, the lead guy has never worked in film prior the Heaven on Earth! The direction was also so flimsy with nothing to write home about. Deepa Mehta style.All her movies have the same rhythm lacking in depth. Besides,this movie really lacked reality,one could tell from the acting alone. What was the point of shooting it in Toronto when no locales were really highlighted except the snow? Perhaps government incentives, but this movie really is an Indian movie and should not be termed as Canadian. It was horrible.

It's hard to describe Heaven on Earth in one word or one sentence, and it's even more complicated to explain what it is about in one sentence. It has many aspects of our modern life which are touched so realistically and brilliantly by Deepa Mehta that few words could not describe them well enough. People mistakenly think the film is about domestic abuse, but it's far from being just about that. It is about immigration, the hardship of people who immigrate from one country to another, from one culture to another, from a difficult world to a world that is even worse. It is about isolation, loneliness and the pain of being far from your family. It is about the terrible consequences of arranged marriages. And of course, domestic violence, which is the main aspect that carries the narrative forward.All these elements are thrown upon the main protagonist of this picture, Chand. A vibrant and lovely girl, she flies to Canada to marry a man she has never met. Ironaically enough, while people expect to see a brighter, better life for a person who immigrates from India to Canada, we discover that Chand's new family lives a poor, miserable lifestyle. The members of the family include seven people, all of whom live in a two-bedroom house. The striking portrayal of life of immigrants in the suburbs of Toronto is realistic and precise. Soon Chand becomes a brutally battered and abused wife who bears the brunt of her husband, Rocky's frustration. These scenes are just terrible to watch. Rocky is cruel and carefree when he beats her, and Chand is full of pain and fear. It's very easy to hate Rocky, but the fact is that he is also a victim of the circumstances, of all the responsibility thrown at him.Preity Zinta's Chand is a wonderful and very well-written character. While it represents all the women-immigrants, all the abused women who are aware of domestic violence being a common part of their culture, it's great to see that in such a world there can be a woman who is so optimistic and positive. She suffers, she aches, she misses her mother, her country, she is desperate of thinking that she will have to live the rest of her life with a bunch of monsters, yet she never really loses her sense of life. She does not blame anyone, she does not hate anyone, she turns her difficulties into strengths, she turns her fears into valours by using her imagination. She creates a world that is better, and lives it. She creates a "Heaven on Earth".Deepa Mehta intelligently displays magical realism in a rather extremist way. Every time Chand is maltreated by her husband, she starts reciting in a whisper beautiful poetic monologues, which efficiently illustrate her loneliness and yearning to see her mother and get back home. When she's alone, she imagines a better life where she is a beloved woman and wife, escaping the cruel reality but little knowing that it's surreal. I must note the scenes which turned black and white deliberately, which are symbolic of the film's meaning. All the sequences involving the snake may be confusing and unclear, but what I find great about them is that every viewer is free to interpret them just the way they want to. Here "the power of the imagination" (which could be an equally suitable title for the film) gets a double-meaning. The audience is given an opportunity to experience the same kind of confusion that Chand herself goes through.Preity Zinta, in one of the finest performances of her career, is nothing short of spectacular as the struggling Chand. Heartfelt, nuanced, haunting and heartbreaking, this portrayal does not have a single false note. This role is contrary to Zinta's own image of a strong woman of substance, as well as most of her on-screen roles. And she pulls it so convincingly that it's almost impossible to believe it is the same woman who played so many happy-go-lucky characters in previous years. She displays helplessness, fear, despair, and at the same time a certain hope for a better day, with amazing subtlety, depth and pathos. Much of it is internal actually, and all you need to know is in her eyes. Just note the scene when she is looking through the bus window. There's so much pain in her eyes. It's just one bit of a really great performance. All the other cast members do a fine job and provide great support.Overall, Heaven on Earth is an extraordinary, deep and intelligent piece, with a view on the social values of today's world. Mehta's presentation of the issue is correct, it's not one-sided and not biased. There are no bad or good people in this film. The characters in this film are all victims of the society. I loved this concept, I appreciated the well-written dialogues, the realistic and unexpected proceedings. The film is brilliantly directed and edited. It is definitely not for everyone, it is not particularly entertaining and many may consider it slow and tedious. It is only for those who can go through a difficult sight, flow with the story, and understand its meaning. I tried to do it, and I personally consider it a great social film with a very meaningful message, as well as a wonderful glimpse into a person's mind, who can be full of optimism and positivity despite the sad reality.

This is one of the worst movie I have ever seen.The starting 10mins is the only good part of the movie showing traditional Punjabi music / songs. After that it becomes slow... slower and slowest... and never picks up the pace.... This was 106 minute movie... and feels like 306 minutes there are pin drop silent moments which could have been done better by adding background score... There were many scenes which makes no sense or could have been easily edited .... so that was also not upto the mark...Preity Zinta did good acting... her good work was literally wasted in this worthless movie....I would not recommend this movie to anyone... *** CONTAINS SPOILER *** No one expects adding factitious stuff like KING COBRA in the film.. this is really good topic and could have been done / presented in much better way... I had very high expectations from a reputed director like Deepa Mehta...Also the place where the kid throws the dentures of his grandpa into drain should be after he is told that his bed will be taken by his uncle... so cinematography is not up to the par either...

Excruciatingly slow is the best way to describe this movie...I had trouble keeping my eyes open in the end..A Deepa Mehta movie is generally a good viewing...but this one disappointed me..The idea of the SheshNag was something I found hard to digest...Moreover the mythological story was told in a disjointed manner which made it pretty hard to follow...The performances are good...especially by Vansh who has the intensity required to portray the character of 'Rocky'..and Preity Zinta does give the right expressions..but seems too old to be playing a newly married girl..5/10